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Bath Killer Bees
The Bath Killer Bees are current members of the British Universities American Football League (BUAFL)'s South Western Atlantic Conference (SWAC), and formally of BUAFL Conference 3 South Division, and the Southern Conference - Western Division in the now defunct British Collegiate American Football League (BCAFL). Bath has fielded solid teams throughout its history, and triumphed in the inaugural BUAFL Challenge Trophy of 2008-9, beating the Sheffield Hallam Warriors 13-8 in the final. In 2006/07, the Killer Bees were rebranded under the University of Bath sports colour scheme of royal blue and gold, leaving behind the black and yellow which the club had played in since its formation in 1992. Despite no longer being the colour of 'Killer Bees' the club has kept its name, inspired by the team's colours and sponsor at the time of formation. Brief History of the Killer Bees The Killer Bees formed in 1992 following a group of hardcore football fans/players spending Sundays practising at the university with no formal club arrangement. A group of students led by Steve Bamford, Pete Davies and Andy McKay proposed the formation of an official club to the Bath University Athletic Union; and within 6 months of the initial proposal, the Bees began League play in 1992-93. Shortly before the start of the season, the Bees drafted in Pat Snooks, at the time offensive co-ordinator of the Bath Gladiators, to take over head coach duties from Pete Davies. The first ever Bees match took place on November 1st 1992 at Bath where the visitors were the reigning champion Southampton Stags. Despite being thoroughly beaten on the day (losing 70-0), the spirit shown by the players of the Bees laid the foundations for years to come. The first year saw two wins over local rivals Bristol Bullets and a last-minute loss to the Oxford Cavaliers; a strong showing for a rookie team in a tough division. The Oxford game, the second of the season, produced Bath's first points: Olly Cruickshank scoring a safety, followed by the Bees first ever touchdowns, a Gary Buckley TD run and a Leon Gumpert TD pass to club founder Steve Bamford. In their second year, Snooks began laying the foundations that, down the line, would turn the Killer Bees into one of the best teams in the League. One of the highlights of the year was an inspirational 18-6 victory over the Southampton Stags. In the 1995-96 season the Killer Bees developed a super defense, led by linebackers Wayne Davis and Matt Warner. Giving up only 26 points all year, they went 5-2-1 and earned a wild-card position in the playoffs. The dream season ended in the third overtime period of the playoff game with the Cardiff Cobras, as a safety gave the Cobras a 10-8 victory. In 1996-97, led by Davis, who was named national defensive player of the year, the Killer Bees won their first division title, which was followed by their first playoff victory, a 14-0 win at UEA Pirates. The next week, their season ended with a 20-6 loss to Tarannau Aberystwyth. In the 2002-03 season they were denied a playoff berth even though they attained a 6-2-0 record. It was becoming apparent that the South West Division would be hard for any team to compete in. The Killer Bees made the four BCAFL/BUAFL playoffs from 2004-05 to 2007-08, and narrowly missed out in 2008-09. This is an impressive run given that they are still in BCAFL South West / BUAFL Southern Conference Western Division, which is widely regarded as the toughest division in the League. In their 15th season (2006-07), not only did they switch to the aforementioned blue and yellow uniform scheme, they also only lost to one team all year, the Bristol Bullets, who were crowned BCAFL Champions 2006-07. The 2007-08 season saw the Killer Bees post their first unbeaten regular season, including two narrow victories over the defending Champions. In the first round of the playoffs, they gained the team's second playoff victory (a 39-0 defeat of the Royal Holloway Vikings). However, their season ended the following week with a hard-fought loss to the eventual champions, the Southampton Stags. This meant that for the second year running, the only defeat(s) suffered by the club were to the eventual National Champions. The 2008-09 season started badly with a loss to the eventual National Champions, the Birmingham Lions in their annual xpLosION game. Further close losses to division rivals the Cardiff Cobras and UWE Bullets saw the Killer Bees miss out on the playoffs for the first time in five years. However, they did win the inaugural Challenge Trophy competition , and set a new standard for South West football with their show piece event "The Sting", where they beat the Bristol Barracuda 40-0 in the regular season finale. Troubled by the ever-present danger of excessive graduations, in the 2009-10 season the Bees returned their first losing record for 7 years, ending at 2-6. The team were clearly in no-mans-land in league terms, as their two wins came via convincing shut outs against lower level teams, whilst they were generally unable to trouble any of the top teams. Their best performance came at the second running of The Sting, where they managed to take the one-loss Bristol Barracuda to overtime. University Records The club has received the University of Bath's "Club of the Year" twice, firstly in 1996/97 and secondly in 2006/07. This is an impressive achievement, as Bath has one of the Highest reputations for Sports clubs in the Country. With 49 University clubs, which include not only the more mainstream sports such as football, rugby and tennis, but also sports that include Olympic, World and Commonwealth Champions, it is almost unbelievable that in only 15 years a "minor" sport such as American Football has twice become the University Focus. The Club put this down to their unique family atmosphere, passionate coaches, and strict no cut policy. Yearly Records ( ° ) Represents winner of both "Player's" and "Coaches" Player in same year. GB players *1992-93 - Andy Cooper (BCAFL Bulldogs Select All-stars) *1993-94 - Matt Warner (GB University Bulldogs), Steve Bamford (GB University Bulldogs) *1995-96 - Richard Calhaem (GB University Bulldogs) *1997-98 - Phil Wilkinson, Nial Mullen, Nick Burns, Tom Weld and Adam Tither (all GB University Bulldogs) *2001-02 - Si Johnson (GB University Bulldogs), Matt Thompson (GB University Bulldogs), Eddie Bell (GB Lions Youth) *2002-03 - Mark Richards (GB University Bulldogs) *2003-04 - Steve Leonard (GB University Bulldogs), Gwydion Edwards (GB University Bulldogs) *2004-05 - Gwydion Edwards (GB University Bulldogs) *2009-10 - Joe Seager (GB Lions Youth) Southern Wildcats/MVP players *2001-02 - Stuart Tinsley ©, Steve Ward (TE), Matt Carter (WR), Gee (RB), Si Johnson (DE), Matt Thompson (S), Dave Cook (WR) *2002-03 - Ben Wiltshire (RB), Henry Murray (RB), Mark Richards (LB) *2003-04 - Steve Leonard (WR), Mark Richards (LB), Gwydion Edwards (LB) *2004-05 - Eddie Bell (RB), Stuart Miller (WR), Gwydion Edwards (LB) *2006-07 - Simon Hallissey (DE) *2007-08 - Steve Leonard (WR) Team Records by Season For more thorough information on any of these seasons, please click here. BCAFL 1992-93: 3-4-1 1993-94: 3-5-0 1994-95: 1-6-1 1995-96: 5-2-1 1996-97: 6-2-0 1997-98: 4-3-1 1998-99: 5-3-0 1999-00: 6-2-0 2000-01: 2-4-2 2001-02: 3-3-2 2002-03: 6-2-0 2003-04: 2-6-0 2004-05: 5-3-0 2005-06: 5-2-1 2006-07: 5-1-2 BUAFL 2007-08: 7-0-1 2008-09: 5-3-0 2009-10: 2-6-0 2010-11: 4-3-1 2011-12: 5-3-0 Team Roster by Season 2007-08 2008-09 All Time Records Largest Victory - 77-0 @ Bath Spa Bulldogs, 25-04-2010 (post-season friendly) Largest Regular Season Victory - 61-0 @ Bristol Bullets, 15-02-1998 Largest Post Season Victory - 39-0 v Royal Holloway Vikings, 02-03-2008 Summary Accurate to end of 2009/10 season (and does not include friendlies or Alumni games) Per Opponent Accurate to end of 2009/10 season BUAFL Offensive Statistical Records Single Season Single Game Standalone External links *BUAFL *Bath Killer Bees *University of Bath References Category:BUAFL teams